Patents Examined by Maurina Rachuba
  • Patent number: 9050704
    Abstract: Abrasive-delivery apparatuses for use in abrasive-jet systems and associated apparatuses, systems, and methods are disclosed. An abrasive-delivery apparatus configured in accordance with a particular embodiment includes a first funnel segment and a second funnel segment downstream from the first funnel segment. The first funnel segment can have a first inlet, a first outlet, and a first interior region extending between the first inlet and the first outlet. Similarly, the second funnel segment can have a second inlet, a second outlet, and a second interior region extending between the second inlet and the second outlet. The first interior region can have a first inward taper toward the first outlet, and the second interior region can have a second inward taper toward the second outlet. The second inward taper can be steeper than the first inward taper when the abrasive-delivery apparatus is vertically oriented.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 13, 2014
    Date of Patent: June 9, 2015
    Assignee: OMAX Corporation
    Inventors: Peter H.-T. Liu, Ernst H. Schubert
  • Patent number: 9050698
    Abstract: A manufacturing method of a carrier for a double-side polishing apparatus for polishing surfaces of a wafer, the carrier having: a carrier body arranged between upper and lower turn tables, the carrier body having a holding hole for holding the wafer; and a ring-shaped resin insert arranged along an inner circumference of the holding hole, the resin insert having an inner circumferential surface to be brought into contact with a peripheral portion of the wafer to be held, the method having the steps of attaching, to the holding hole of the carrier body, a base material for the resin insert not having the inner circumferential surface to be brought into contact with the wafer to be held, and performing inner-circumferential-surface-forming processing on the base material for the resin insert to form the inner circumferential surface to be brought into contact with the peripheral portion of the wafer to be held.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 18, 2010
    Date of Patent: June 9, 2015
    Assignee: SHIN-ETSU HANDOTAI CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Taichi Yasuda, Tatsuo Enomoto
  • Patent number: 9050700
    Abstract: Methods, apparatus, and systems are provided for retaining a substrate in a polishing head of a CMP system. The invention includes a flexible inner retaining ring adapted to contour to an edge of a substrate and an inner ring support coupled to the polishing head. The inner support ring is adapted to contact the flexible inner retaining ring in response to a side force load applied to the flexible inner retaining ring by a substrate being polished. Numerous additional aspects are disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 27, 2012
    Date of Patent: June 9, 2015
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Hung Chih Chen, Jay Gurusamy, Gautam S. Dandavate, Samuel Chu-Chiang Hsu
  • Patent number: 9044873
    Abstract: Various embodiments of fluid-jet systems are described herein. In one embodiment, a fluid-jet system includes a table and two bridges that are each longitudinally movable along the table. Each bridge carries a fluid-jet cutting head latitudinally movable along the bridge. The fluid-jet system also includes a first controller operably coupled to the first bridge and the first fluid-jet cutting head. The first controller controls the first bridge and the first fluid-jet cutting head. The fluid-jet system also includes a second controller operably coupled to the second bridge and the second fluid-jet cutting head. The second controller controls the second bridge and the second fluid-jet cutting head independently of the control of the first bridge and the first fluid-jet cutting head by the first controller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 22, 2011
    Date of Patent: June 2, 2015
    Assignee: OMAX Corporation
    Inventors: Brian K. Guglielmetti, Kevin A. Hay
  • Patent number: 9039495
    Abstract: Methods and apparatus for making and using tools, for example concrete cutting blades. The tool includes a first layer and second layer that are oppositely disposed. The first and second layers include working surfaces that support at least one working element when the working element is applied to a work piece. Additionally, an intermediate structure is included between the first and second layers. The intermediate structure can include a plurality of components extending in the area between the structural surfaces and the working surfaces.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 16, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 26, 2015
    Assignee: HUSQVARNA AB
    Inventor: Anthony Baratta
  • Patent number: 9033769
    Abstract: A dust collecting attachment that is mounted on a sander includes a suction portion mounted on a portion of a front housing where an output shaft projects, a flexible hose having a front end of the flexible hose connected to the suction portion, a discharge portion connected to a rear end of the flexible hose and a changeable member placed on both a motor housing and the discharge portion. The changeable member allows the discharge portion to be mounted at any position around an axis of the motor housing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 4, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 19, 2015
    Assignee: MAKITA CORPORATION
    Inventors: Akira Mizutani, Hideharu Muto
  • Patent number: 9033762
    Abstract: A master servo motor and a slave servo motor that synchronously drive for rotation a master main spindle provided with a center that supports one end of a work piece and a slave main spindle provided with a center that supports the other end of the work piece are included. Before grinding, a slip detection cycle that detects a limit current value for the servo motors, at which the work piece and the centers slip, is executed and, during grinding, a grinding condition is changed to prevent a slip between the work piece and the centers in advance at the time when any one of current values of the servo motors has reached a slip threshold value set on the basis of the limit current value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 2010
    Date of Patent: May 19, 2015
    Assignee: JTEKT Corporation
    Inventor: Akira Makiuchi
  • Patent number: 9033765
    Abstract: A coated abrasive article comprises an abrasive layer secured to a backing. The abrasive layer comprises abrasive particles secured by at least one binder to a first major surface of the backing. A supersize is disposed on at least a portion of the abrasive layer. The coated abrasive article has a melt flow zone adjacent to an edge of the coated abrasive article, wherein the melt flow zone has a maximum width of less than 100 micrometers, and the melt flow zone has a maximum height of less than 40 micrometers. Methods of using infrared lasers to ablate coated abrasive articles are also disclosed, wherein a laser wavelength is matched to a component of the coated abrasive article.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 23, 2010
    Date of Patent: May 19, 2015
    Assignee: 3M Innovative Properties Company
    Inventors: Edward J. Woo, Pingfan Wu, Patrick R. Fleming, Ian R. Owen, Schoen A. Schuknecht, Frederick P. LaPlant
  • Patent number: 9027542
    Abstract: A novel cutting method and apparatus includes a cutting blade adapted to consistently and easily form a desirable kerf in a concrete substrate while capturing substantially all resulting concrete dust.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 12, 2015
    Assignee: Perfect Trac OpCo, LLC
    Inventors: Reginald A. Ronzello, Sr., John S. Merck, Timothy H. Crowley
  • Patent number: 9028294
    Abstract: Disclosed are an apparatus and a method for monitoring a glass plate polishing state. The apparatus may include a location measuring unit for measuring a location on a glass plate being polished by a polishing machine, a current measuring unit for measuring an electric current flowing into the polishing machine, a memory unit for storing a reference value of the electric current flowing into the polishing machine for each polishing location of the glass plate, and a control unit for determining whether a polishing state is faulty, by comparing a value of the electric current measured by the current measuring unit for each polishing location measured by the location measuring unit with a corresponding reference value of the electric current stored in the memory unit for each polishing location.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 10, 2011
    Date of Patent: May 12, 2015
    Assignee: LG Chem, Ltd.
    Inventors: Won-Jae Moon, Hyung-Young Oh, Dae-Yeon Lee, Jae-Ik Song, Young-Kuk Kim, Kyu-Chul Chung, Hyun-Chul Chung
  • Patent number: 9022839
    Abstract: A dart restoration tool includes a stator having a conical milling surface and a rotor mounted for rotation about a longitudinal axis of the stator. The rotor includes a guide adapted to accept a tip end portion of a game dart such that the tip end portion engages the conical milling surface. Rotation of the rotor about the longitudinal axis produces an orbital motion of the game dart against the conical milling surface to sharpen the tip end portion of the game dart.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 27, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 5, 2015
    Inventor: Timothy M Colasurdo
  • Patent number: 9022840
    Abstract: An abrasive tool including a CMP pad conditioner having a substrate including a first major surface, a second major surface opposite the first major surface, and a side surface extending between the first major surface and the second major, wherein a first layer of abrasive grains is attached to the first major surface and a second layer of abrasive grains is attached to the second major surface. The conditioner further includes a first sealing member extending in a peripheral direction along a portion of the side surface of the substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 20, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 5, 2015
    Assignees: Saint-Gobain Abrasives, Inc., Saint-Gobain Abrasifs
    Inventors: Charles Dinh-Ngoc, Srinivasan Ramanath, Eric M. Schulz, Jianhui Wu, Thomas Puthanangady, Ramanujam Vedantham, Taewook Hwang
  • Patent number: 9011204
    Abstract: A waterjet system in accordance with a particular embodiment includes a pressurizing device configured to pressurize a fluid, a cutting head downstream from the pressurizing device, and a catcher positioned to collect a jet from the cutting head. The system can further include a treatment assembly configured to treat a feed fluid to the pressurizing device and/or a byproduct fluid from the catcher, such as by removing submicron colloidal particles from the feed fluid and/or from the byproduct fluid. For example, the treatment assembly can include a coagulation unit, such as a chemical coagulation unit or an electrocoagulation unit, configured to coagulate the submicron colloidal particles. The pressurizing device, the cutting head, and the treatment assembly can be at different respective portions of a fluid-recycling loop.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 27, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 21, 2015
    Assignee: OMAX Corporation
    Inventors: Chidambaram Raghavan, Tanner Coker, Scott Thomas, James M. O'Connor, John H. Olsen
  • Patent number: 8992287
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to a slurry distribution system having a distribution tube connected between a mixing tank and a CMP tool. The mixing tank is configured to generate a polishing mixture comprising a diluted slurry having abrasive particles that enable mechanical polishing of a workpiece. The polishing mixture is transported between the mixing tank and a CMP tool by way of a transport piping. An energy source, in communication with the transport piping, transfers energy to the abrasive particles within the polishing mixture, thereby preventing accumulation of the abrasive particles within the transport piping.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 1, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 31, 2015
    Assignee: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Sheng-Chen Wang, Feng-Inn Wu, Chih-Hung Tsai, Huang-Jen Hsu, Te-Chia Hsu
  • Patent number: 8992288
    Abstract: A polishing pad auxiliary plate including: a lower auxiliary plate overlapping a top surface of a rotating surface plate of a polishing device; a first adhering member adhering the lower auxiliary plate to the rotating surface plate; an upper auxiliary plate with a pad support surface on which the polishing pad is overlapped and adhered, while overlapping a top surface of the lower auxiliary plate; a second adhering member adhering the upper auxiliary plate to the lower auxiliary plate; and an alignment member for mutually aligning the lower and upper auxiliary plates and matching center axes thereof. By removing the upper auxiliary plate from the lower auxiliary plate, the polishing pad is removed from the rotating surface plate while being adhered to the pad support surface of the upper auxiliary plate, and the removed upper auxiliary plate is reattached and aligned to the lower auxiliary plate by the alignment member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 29, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 31, 2015
    Assignee: Toho Engineering Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Tatsutoshi Suzuki, Eisuke Suzuki
  • Patent number: 8986072
    Abstract: Methods of finishing an edge of a glass sheet comprise the step of machining the edge of the glass sheet into a predetermined cross-sectional profile along a plane taken transverse to the edge of the glass sheet with an initial average edge strength ESi. The methods also include the step of finishing the edge with at least one finishing member, such as an endless belt, without substantially changing a shape of the predetermined cross-sectional profile. In one example, a wet slurry including an abrasive can be applied to at least one of a finishing member and the edge of the glass sheet. After finishing the edge, example finished average edge strengths ESf can be at least about 250 MPa. In addition or alternatively, in another example, the ratio ESf/ESi can be within a range of from about 1.6 to about 5.6.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 26, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 24, 2015
    Assignee: Corning Incorporated
    Inventors: Charles M. Darcangelo, Aric B. Shorey, Daniel D. Strong, David A. Tammaro
  • Patent number: 8979615
    Abstract: The polishing apparatus has a polishing unit capable of polishing a peripheral portion of the substrate to form a right-angled cross section. The polishing apparatus includes: a substrate holder that holds and rotates the substrate; guide rollers that support a polishing tape; and a polishing head having a pressing member that presses an edge of the polishing tape against the peripheral portion of the substrate from above. The guide rollers are arranged such that the polishing tape extends parallel to a tangential direction of the substrate and a polishing surface of the polishing tape is parallel to a surface of the substrate. The substrate holder includes: a holding stage that holds the substrate; and a supporting stage that supports a lower surface of the peripheral portion of the substrate in its entirety. The supporting stage rotates in unison with the holding stage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 1, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 17, 2015
    Assignee: Ebara Corporation
    Inventors: Masaya Seki, Tetsuji Togawa, Masayuki Nakanishi, Naoki Matsuda, Atsushi Yoshida
  • Patent number: 8974267
    Abstract: An insert carrier is configured to receive at least one semiconductor wafer for double-side processing of the wafer between two working disks of a lapping, grinding or polishing process. The insert carrier includes a core of a first material that has a first surface and a second surface, and at least one opening configured to receive a semiconductor wafer. A coating at least partially covers the first and second surfaces of the core. The coating includes a surface remote from the core that includes a structuring including elevations and depressions. A correlation length of the elevations and depressions is in a range of 0.5 mm to 25 mm and an aspect ratio of the structuring is in a range of 0.0004 to 0.4.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 6, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 10, 2015
    Assignee: Siltronic AG
    Inventors: Georg Pietsch, Michael Kerstan
  • Patent number: 8968053
    Abstract: In order to avoid using anti-stick paints, based on polytetrafluoroethylene or the like, on parts of cheesemaking machines which are to be in contact with hot curds (pastafilata), their surfaces are sandblasted with preferably virgin white corundum powder having a granulometry of about 180 mesh. Surprisingly, surfaces so treated are non-stick for the purposes mentioned above.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 20, 2010
    Date of Patent: March 3, 2015
    Assignee: C.M.T. Costruzioni Meccaniche e Tecnologia S.p.A.
    Inventor: Stefano Tomatis
  • Patent number: 8968054
    Abstract: A method for cooling a cylindrical workpiece during wire sawing includes applying a liquid coolant to a surface of the workpiece. The workpiece is made of semiconductor material having a surface including two end faces and a lateral face. The method includes sawing the workpiece with a wire saw including a wire web having wire sections arranged in parallel by penetrating the wire sections into the workpiece by an oppositely directed relative movement of the wire sections and the workpiece. Wipers are disposed so as to bear on the surface of the workpiece. The temperature of the workpiece is controlled during the wire sawing using a liquid coolant applied onto the workpiece above the wipers so as to remove the liquid coolant with the wipers bearing on the workpiece surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 30, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 3, 2015
    Assignee: Siltronic AG
    Inventors: Peter Wiesner, Anton Huber